If the SOE Agent's book follows the path trodden by the similarly titled Agent's Handbook for the Laundry then we might expect extra options for character generation with some extra WW2 occupations, backgrounds and military career options.

I've been generating a lot of characters for various con games and I do a different set for each new area of conflict. I have a bunch of Romanian agents, Danish agents, Gibraltarian agents plus some that aren't from those areas but speak appropriate languages. I use not only the occupations from the 6e rulebook but also those from the Investigators Handbook as that gives a bunch of off-the-wall career choices that certainly fit right in.

I do however notice a certain sameness in several due to the lumps of skills that are handed out for the military careers and regional and locale skill options. The final values don't usually seem to have enough in things like tradecraft, cryptography and similar skills taught at the 'finishing school' in Beaulieu. I've taken to using the personal points at he end of character generation to give a little bit of oomph to some of these skills.

Loved the warning " The techniques described in this book are historical techniques employed by trained professionals in desperate times. Cubicle 7 does not endorse or encourage their use or replication, and does not take any responsibility for individuals doing so. "
Playing CoC soon as dangerous as backyard wrestling ?!

The first time some kid claps his cupped hands to a friends ears and has them deaf and bleeding you could see law suits (depending upon country/location of course). Luckily matchboxes are far more rare nowadays so we probably won't see too many injuries assisted by them.

Mind you I'd be happy to give up all I know to a femme-fatal should one deign to approach me

I did once try a technique, described in a book as designed to incapacitate a Japanese soldier, on my brother that resulted in a 'dead leg'. Boy did I get told off when my Mum got home. The little sod got me back fencing with a knitting needle where a lunge put it through the meat of my bicep.

The SOE Agents Handbook opens with a discussion of Combat and that covers all manner of violence, also the use of close up Assassination, using captured heavy weapons and all manner of Hand-to-Hand combat with rules/guidance for their use under the 6e CoC rules e.g. assassination attempts must come as a surprise to the target; the investigator must approach undetected or unsuspected and make the initial attack by surprise. this requires the use of other skills to deceive the target into either not suspecting the agent, or simply not noticing that he is there at all. in this case, the investigator rolls to hit as normal with his weapon, including any bonuses for surprise or positioning. if the roll is under one-fifth the investigator’s chance to hit, the target is killed instantly or so badly wounded that he will die within moments regardless of medical assistance. these odds are increased to half the investigator’s chance to hit if an automatic weapon is used at very close range. if the investigator rolls a hit but more than his assassination chance, the target is hit for normal damage.

Chapter 2 covers Espionage and things like resisting Interrogation with some rules guidance on how to deal with that as well as details of using Cover Identities.

Chapter 3 is Communications dealing with Codes and Ciphers and Propaganda again with suggestions on using the 6e rules to deal with those aspects.

Chapter 5 has details of more special weapons and equipment, Tyre bursters, incendiary charges including Cigarettes and Tree Spigot guns. I want to write a scenario just to use a Tree Spigot gun and an Incendiary Cigarette.

Appendix A & B deal with SOE and N's training establishments with rules for extra and specialised training in a similar way to the way the system works in the Laundry to gain extra, bonus skills or increases. It also provides details of how to update your CoC Investigator to the 1940's.

It provides a gamer's guide to all the things in those SOE Handbooks available in reprint from the Imperial War Museum and at Bealieau where they have an SOE/Secret Army exhibition. You can even find details of the notorious Exploding Rat filled with plastic explosive.

Well worth it for expanding on details and providing extra information in your WWC game without watching old war movies or reruns of Secret Army or Wish Me Luck.

Is this the right place for feedback? The cover art labels southern Ireland as the "Rep. of Ireland" which is anachronistic; the republic wasn't declared until 1948. During WW2 the country would be correctly labelled "Éire".